I had a dream set to Two-Headed Boy, pt. II last night. I was in a burning building on the top floor, and there was a woman and a child there. I had to choose one to save. I chose the child. I would raise the child. Twenty years later we visted the remains of the building and we would see a ghostly illusion of the woman, who was content with the choice I made. It was a beautiful dream..

[quote=La Revolucion]Have you even listened to the album? He's always straining to reach high notes, and even when he's not, his voice just has a grating quality that makes me want to tear out my ears.[/quote] His voice isn't obnoxious, it's just tedious. I tend to enjoy singers that use their own unique style (Isaac Brock, Frank Blank) but Mangum takes it to a different extreme.

I don't understand how you can take your own unique style to an extreme. Black Francis uses his unique style constantly.. in all of the songs he wrote.. and (I'm assuming) what he writes now. The whole album of Surfer Rosa is filled with him.. singing like he's on helium. In my opinion, Magnum sings like that.. because that's how he sings. He can't just say "I'm gonna sing really WELL now" because.. he doesn't.

But that's just my honest opinion, feel free to smite me with the modstick if you don't agree. :>

[quote=With Decay]I don't understand how you can take your own unique style to an extreme. Black Francis uses his unique style constantly.. in all of the songs he wrote.. and (I'm assuming) what he writes now. The whole album of Surfer Rosa is filled with him.. singing like he's on helium. In my opinion, Magnum sings like that.. because that's how he sings. He can't just say "I'm gonna sing really WELL now" because.. he doesn't.[/quote] I only have one counter argument to this and it's that Francis had loud, distorted guitar and drum playing behind him when he sings. His voice created a chaotic sort of atmosphere while Mangum just shouts oddly over folky guitar strums.

Yes, but Magnum's shouting, IMO, adds to the emotion of the music. The whole album is extremely personal because it's about Anne Frank, who Magnum had a deep passion for (for some reason or another). Personally, I think if Magnum were to have instead sung quietly and nicely, the album as a whole would have had less impact on the listener. I mean hell, if I was that passionate about something, I'd be yelling about it too. But that's just me... I think the off key shouting and cracking voice adds a level of.. beauty to the music.

Interesting. I understand that you enjoy his raw emotion and passion yet I fail to see any sense of beauty in his voice. Emotional music is refreshing to listen to but Mangums voice is just to stale and loud for my tastes.